Whiting: FDA finally starts to tackle opioid epidemic

James and Teri Kennedy visit a roadside memorial where their still alive son was dumped off the I-5 Freeway near J Serra High School. Joey Kennedy died after several years of opiate addiction. CHRISTINE COTTER, FOR THE REGISTER

With the prescription drug epidemic killing, on average, someone every other day in Orange County, the Food and Drug Administration this week finally took its first significant step to slow the death rate.

It may not seem like much, but the FDA’s move to clamp down on relatively easy access to hydrocodone indicates a long-awaited paradigm shift.

Still, for 44 people in Orange County – according to my review of coroner records – the FDA’s move is too little too late. Each one accidently overdosed last year of hydrocodone-related causes.

Consider that the Drug Enforcement Administration itself recommended such a move by the FDA four years ago. Since the DEA asked to make it more difficult to get hydrocodone, also known as Vicodin, more than 100,000 people have died from prescription opioids.

James Kennedy is the father of a young man named Joey whose life and death I profiled last year. After learning of the FDA’s move, Kennedy told me: Joey’s “introduction to prescription pain medication started with Vicodin and that quickly led him to stronger and more lethal pharmaceutical opioids.

“I am happy to see the FDA is finally doing something about the overprescribing of Vicodin and its generic counterparts, but that is not enough.”

Kennedy, of San Clemente, pointed to the staggering amounts of opioids manufactured legally in the U.S. He said flooding the market with such drugs “has created a significant increase in addiction to pain medication, which will unfortunately continue forward until all opioids are very tightly controlled.”

Still, the FDA’s move to curtail an epidemic that kills more people than car crashes is a start.

Consider that last month the agency was all proud that it required changing labels on opioids.

• • •

Earlier this week, Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, noted the move to reclassify hydrocodone as a Schedule II drug came after considerable work. She wasn’t kidding.

Woodcock said the FDA’s decision followed "extensive scientific literature, review of hundreds of public comments on the issue, and several public meetings, during which we received input from a wide range of stakeholders, including patients, health care providers, outside experts, and other government entities.”

Sure, we want the FDA to carefully evaluate drugs. But given the delay, the number of deaths and the clout of what critics call Big Pharma, the question rises who the FDA really works for.

I started writing about the opioid epidemic three years ago when it was mostly affecting teens and young adults along our golden coast and in South County. At that time, so-called “pharm parties” with young people snorting crushed pills stolen from parents’ medicine cabinets were all the rage.

They still are.

Like the DEA, I called for tighter drug controls. It doesn’t take a medical degree to figure out the way to slow drug flow is to tighten the faucet.

Yet, as the epidemic spread, the FDA had meetings. Earlier this year, I examined 2012 county coroner reports and found a 25 percent spike from the year before in women dying.

What was equally disturbing was that the epidemic also was spreading to other age groups. Of women ages 40 and over, the number of opioid deaths jumped from 35 to 49, a 40 percent increase.

James and Teri Kennedy visit a roadside memorial where their still alive son was dumped off the I-5 Freeway near J Serra High School. Joey Kennedy died after several years of opiate addiction. CHRISTINE COTTER, FOR THE REGISTER
A family photo of a smiling Joey Kennedy taken at age 25. He died after several years of opiate addiction. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The Macleod family is grieving over the loss of 18-year-old Tyler Macleod. Tyler was a senior at Huntington Beach High School. He was an exceptional lacrosse player, loved to surf and was known for being friendly. He was found in a Fountain Valley hotel room after he overdosed on heroin. PHOTO COURTESY THE MACLEOD FAMILY
Tyler Macleod, 18, died on Sept. 24 of a drug overdose. His father, Dave Macleod, says, “It's about time they started making it tougher for these kids to easily get these so-called pain killers. They are sold on the streets to our kids and are more readily available than any other drug.” PHOTO COURTESY THE MACLEOD FAMILY
Family, friends, and former Phoenix House residents gathered at the Santa Ana facility to hold a candlelight vigil to remember friends/family who died or are suffering from addiction. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A family photo of James Kennedy and son Joey at age 26. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.